If you're a glass is half full kind of person, the Lehigh Valley's job picture was steady in April.

You say your glass is half empty? Then it was stagnant.

The region's April unemployment rate stayed at 5.7 percent, 13th out of 18 regions in the state, as local employers added a seasonally adjusted 1,100 jobs over March. The state's unemployment rate in April was 5.3 percent.

The Lehigh Valley's flat rate hides signs of continued improvement, said Steven Zellers, industry and business analyst with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

"A lot of people are going to assume that just because the rate was flat there was no improvement, and that's not the case," he said.

While the survey of Lehigh Valley employers showed only marginal improvement, the workforce survey that measures local residents' employment status had some bright points, he said.

On the upside, 1,400 more Lehigh Valley residents joined the labor force and 1,500 found jobs. That includes 100 who came off the unemployment rolls, Zellers said.

The 0.7 percent decline in the unemployment rate over the last year mirrors the national decline of 0.8 percent, Zellers said. Since April 2014, 3,200 more Lehigh Valley residents have found employment, when that number is adjusted for seasonal hiring fluctuations.

"You still have some long-term unemployed, but most areas of the state have that as well," Zellers said. "We are not totally out of the woods yet from recouping from the recession, but we are getting pretty darn close."

As is typical, construction jobs ticked up in April as temperatures rose. The region added 800 jobs in that sector in April, compared with March. The 13,400 people working in the construction, mining and logging sector in April was 400 more than the same time last year.

Manufacturing jobs were stable, compared with last month, but up 500 compared with the same time last year.

Public sector jobs were up 400 compared with March, but down 700 year over year. The region is home to roughly 40,200 government jobs, most of them in local government.

Leisure and hospitality continues to be a bright spot for the Lehigh Valley, employing 36,200 in the region, a number that was up 2,100 compared with the same time last year. Transportation and warehousing also remain strong, adding 1,100 jobs in the Lehigh Valley over the last year.